Two Sides of a Coin
by iamalmostawriter
Summary: I love a good antagonist, and Konstantin from Rise of the Tomb Raider is a favorite. I was disappointed he didn't make a return in Shadow (it is a choice to kill him after all and everyone knows a villain never really dies in a fire - they return scarred and on a vengeance streak!) I hope you enjoy this little drabble and lead in to how Lara was targeting Trinity's cells...


"I did all of this...for her…"

"I know…"

"Trinity killed your father!"

"Shut up!"

Lara sat up with a gasp, hair soaked against the back of her neck. The sun gleamed through the window above her, a bird peering down at her with interested eyes.

The valley was safe.

Jacob was gone.

She sighed, hearing children's laughter, a small smile crossing her lips. Splashing water across her face, she glanced at her gear stacked in the corner of the small shack.

_Jonah will understand. He has to._

She saw him sitting with Sofia, they were sharing a wooden mug of steaming tea, laughing. Beyond them the trail leading back to the sunken city was still there, guarded by a few men.

"Well little bird, what's next?" Jonah had left Sofia to wander up the path to his friend

He nudges her arm gently and she laughs. "I think I'd like to rest for a while…"

"But?"

"I'd like to go back to the sunken city." She glances sideways at him.

Jonah taps his finger against the wood, and leans against the railing on the shack's porch.

"It was beautiful, I want more time."

He frowns slightly, but offers a warm smile, "Sure let's go."

She rests her hand on his, "No, I want to go alone, and just…"

Jonah nods and Lara feels a pang, arguing internally.

_I could tell him. Not yet._

The city was as dazzling as when she first laid eyes on it. Now though, the sun shone through the broken ice above, golden rays sparkling against the frost on wooden beams and shards of armour.

Lara scrambles down to the city streets and adjusts her pack, setting determindley for the cave on the far side.

None of Sofia's people remain. They instead are praying for the ice to recover and hide the city. Though the artifact they protected is gone, only those in that room knew. Told instead it was lost to the deathless who still protect it.

The bear she fought lay in its place, the fur tipped in the cold and she steps carefully around it. There is a trail of blood next to large boot prints. She follows it grimly into the darkness and stops at the small fire burning but there is noone around.

"Hello?" Her voice echoes around the small cave, her hand drops to her pistol grip but there is no answer.

She starts to turn away when a glint catches her eye. Beyond the crumbled bricks just out of the firelight she sees boots and she drops her pack, drawing her gun and steps forward quietly. She relaxes and sheathes her gun dropping beside the still figure.

"Konstantin?" He is still alive. She presses her hand against his forehead and works at dragging him to the fire. She adds more wood and waits, rereading the journal pages she had given Konstantin, bloodied fingerprints marring Ana's confession of what she done to her brother.

"You came back." His voice is hoarse and she jumps from staring into the fire.

"I keep my promises."

She helps him sit up, his arm is bandaged tight to his chest, his face battered. He stifled a groan and looks down at his hands, the wounds his sister had given him vivid.

"You should have killed me." He lifts his eyes. "Why haven't you?"

Lara presses her lips together, her hands reaching out to the flames for heat. His eyes narrow.

"If I was you, I'd be wanting coordinates to bases, to cells...to leaders. Is that what you want?"

"Ana's dead." Her voice cracks and she coughs to cover it.

His eyes flicker but he says nothing. She notices a slight tremble in his fingers.

"You said Trinity killed my father."

He meets her eyes. She searches them with hers. He doesn't look away.

"They've now killed your sister."

"I'm not afraid of death. They - Trinity will come for me." He shifts, a deep cough rattling his chest and he pulls at the pain.

"You could help me. Take them down."

"There is no taking them down Croft... Lara," He draws out her name, "there are cell's everywhere."

He leans his head back against the rocks and looks over his nose at her, "I know why."

She purses her lips.

"Why what?"

"You think if you save me, you'll save yourself." He holds his hands out, "I can't be saved."

Jonah whistles softly, his pack loaded with treats to share with his friend. He'd followed her trail, glad she didn't try too hard to cover her tracks, puzzled to find himself at the entrance to a cave.

He stops in his tracks, hearing Lara's soft tones against a familiar rasp. He grabs his shotgun and charges into the darkness.

"How could you?"

Konstantin watches the two argue through half closed eyes. Jonah gestures with passion towards him and Lara places her hand gently on his wrist.

"I have to Jonah."

"Why? Tell me why - make me understand."

"That could have been me Jonah!" Her eyes drop and he shakes his head.

"I don't understand."

"Jonah, I…" Lara looks over her shoulder at Konstantin and motions to Jonah to follow her. They walk out of the cave to stand looking out over the crumbled ruins.

"I had Roth. And then I had you, and Sam...but it could have turned out so differently, especially with Ana."

"No." Jonah is firm, "I will not believe that."

"We're the same coin, one flip and I could have been him; if my father…"

"Lara - he almost killed me - and you, several times."

"I've killed too Jonah." She sighs, "I'm not saying I don't want to kill him right now," Jonah's mouth twitches in spite of the seriousness, "But I understand him; and we can use him Jonah. There's cells all over the world, he could guide us."

"Who's to say he won't guide us to our deaths?"

She crosses her arms over her stomach, "If I don't try Jonah, then I'm no better than Ana." She takes a deep breath, "I'm not looking to redeem him."

Jonah sighs heavily, "What if he killed your father? You told me he gloated about it."

Lara's eyes harden and she purses her lips, "He said Trinity did it. If he had…"

"You think he wouldn't hide it?"

She meets his eyes and it's unspoken between them.

They walk back into the cave, and Lara stumbles into Jonah's back with a grunt, startled when he stops suddenly.

The cave is empty, Jonah's pack is gone, and Lara's has been rifled through. On the bloodied blanket lies a torn piece of paper and Lara pushes past Jonah. She snatches it, holding it against the light of the flames.

"It's coordinates." She squints and she drops to her knees.

Jonah runs his hand over his hair glancing around the cave worriedly.

Lara runs her hand over the blanket. Under where the paper had been folded lay a single pistol cartridge next to a coin from Kitezh.

"Is that meant for you?" Jonah peers over her shoulder and she shakes her head.

"I think it's a promise."

Lara sighs. The heavy curtains sway in the gentle breeze and she rolls onto her side. Something is off. A creak, in the hall and she sits up reaching for her gun. Her hand closes over air and the shadow comes too fast. He catches her, his arm over her throat but just as instantly he releases her handing her the pistol.

She hefts it but places it in it's holster, never taking her eyes off of him. There are new scars, but the ones from Kitezh are long healed over. He points at the bookshelf a tower of coins neatly stacked.

"You've been busy." He rests his hip on the windowsill, the air ruffling his hair.

Lara sits on the edge of her bed, "Well, your information has been good."

He holds up a coin, his eyes glinting. She catches it and frowns. This one is different.

"You need to be careful." His eyes are shaded in the moonlight and she stands to inspect the coin in better light.

"This is Mayan." Her voice is suprised.

He stands, her head barely reaching his shoulder and Lara starts to speak more but stops. There is something different about him. She turns the coin over her fingers and he reaches for it.

"You've gone too far to ever stop now." His voice is almost a whisper and she straightens her shoulders, their hands still touching. His palm is still scarred and she brushes it with her thumb before taking the coin back.

She turns away from him, inspecting the coin and stares out into the garden, the moonlight whitewashing the remains of the trellis below.

"Am I close then?"

"Too close." He walks towards the door and pauses, looking over his shoulder when she says his name.

"Who...do you know who did it?" Her voice is soft.

He lowers his chin but meets her eyes, "In spite of my boasting, I was not there. There is a man named Rourke…" He twisted his lip, "Commander Rourke."

"I'll watch out for him." Lara places the coin next to the stack on the shelf and Konstantin hands her a scrap of paper with several coordinates.

Konstantin rests his hand on the door handle, looking out into the darkness.

"You are wrong Croft. The edge of a coin is thin, but you choose what side you land on. No one else does. Good luck Lara Croft." He is gone before Lara can reply and her eyes fall on the glint of coin stack.

She closes the door and reaches for her phone, scanning the numbers on the paper, she calls Jonah.

"I got it. We got it."


End file.
